Phone Down Life Up

Smartphones have become integral to modern life, serving diverse functions beyond communication. However, concerns about their impact on mental health and productivity are rising. This study explores smartphone usage patterns and sentiments to develop products promoting a healthier balance.

Through contextual inquiry, researchers observed users across varied settings, revealing a common pattern about excessive phone usage. Interpretation sessions synthesised data using methods like affinity diagrams and sequence models, identifying recurring themes and user behaviours. The wall walk exercise facilitated ideation, resulting in four design ideas. These include an accountability app for users to support each other in reducing phone usage, integration of subtle haptic feedback for moderation, gamified challenges to incentivize reduced screen time, and a "dumb device" for essential notifications.

A prototype app was developed for an accountability partner program, featuring goal-setting, challenges, and interventions to discourage excessive usage. Emphasising simplicity, the app employed a muted colour palette and intuitive interface. This study offers insights into smartphone usage and presents design solutions to promote a healthier relationship with technology.

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​The research question at the center of this study was how and to what extent are smartphones being used in everyday life and what are the feelings associated regarding the usage. The first part of the research question was easy to investigate with close observation of the participants usage but the second part is what we spent a large amount of time in analysis as well. The research method employed for this study was contextual inquiry with each member of the team conducting one inquiry each with a different participant. Since our team only had four members, one member also conducted an additional contextual inquiry. The inquiries all were at least 2 hours where the researchers closely observed the participants’ phone usage and asked relevant questions when necessary. Following these contextual inquiries, the researchers worked together to come up with an affinity diagram and divided the observations into concrete categories. Based on the affinity diagram and the model resulting from the contextual inquiries, researchers discussed various product ideas and landed on a final prototype idea of an accountability app.

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